India gained independence with a myriad of freedom fighters playing a crucial role in the movement towards freedom, and some even lost their lives for the country’s liberation from colonial rule. The freedom fighters crossed all boundaries of age, gender, and social hierarchies to live their dreams.
Today, on this auspicious occasion, the day cannot conclude before we pay our tributes to the women who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to snatch the independence from the colonial clutches and wrote the most glorified moment in the history of the country. Here are five fearless freedom fighters who fought with great pride and became role models for every citizen of a free India.
Kanaklata Barua
Hailing from Assam, also known as Birbala, Kanaklata Barua was an Indian freedom fighter who took leading steps in the 1942 Quit India Movement at Barangabari. At the tender age of 18, she proudly held the Indian flag with intentions to unfurl it at the British acquired Gohpur Police Station. Shouting slogans “Britishers Go Back,” she was silenced by the deadly lead shot from a British policeman’s rifle.
Matangini Hazra
The first-ever statue of a woman was put up in 1977 in Kolkata, and it was of none other than Matangini Hazra. Also known as Gandhi Buri, Matangini was one of the leading voices in the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Quit India Movement. She earned the title Gandhi Buri as she was immensely driven by the teachings of Gandhi and became a devoted follower of the father of the nation. Even after being shot thrice by the colonial forces, she did not lose grip on the mast upholding the tri-colour and kept shouting “Vande Mataram” before breathing her last share of air.
Aruna Asaf Ali
Aruna Asaf Ali, also known as ‘The Grand Old Lady,’ was the freedom fighter who hoisted the Indian National Congress at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay (now Mumbai), during the Quit India Movement. When the prominent leaders and workers were arrested, she took charge and marked the beginning of the Quit India Movement. She herself went to jail numerous times for her active participation in various movements, including Salt Satyagraha. She is also known for playing a crucial role in budling up the National Federation of Indian Women in 1954. She passed away on July 29, 1996, as an octogenarian. She was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
Lakshmi Sahgal
A former Indian Army Officer, Captain Lakshmi Sahgal was a revolutionary freedom fighter. She is known for her brave-heart legacy of forming and leading the Rani of Jhansi regiment in the Indian National Army, molded by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. She was arrested and put in Burma prison for her contribution to World War II. Captain Sahgal breathed her last in Kanpur in 2012 following a cardiac arrest.
Bhikaji Cama
One of the most eminent faces of the Indian Nationalist Movement, Bhikaji Rustom Cama, was born in 1861 to a well-off Parsi family. She was the first woman to hoist the national flag on foreign soil in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1907. She was banned in British India and Britain for her revolutionary thoughts against the colonial rule, capable of building a fire of nationalistic pride from feeble sparks in the hearts of anyone. She passionately emphasized equality between men and women and did away with all her assets and possessions to aid an orphanage for young girls.
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